German Mobilization in World War II: Mountain Divisions

From about the mid-nineteenth century several European armies began to create troops specialized for mountain operations.  Germany was no different.  During World War I the Alpenkorps proved particularly valuable for operations in the Carpathians and the Julian Alps, most spectacularly in the Battle of Caporetto (October 24-November 19, 1917), when a young Erwin Rommel gave an early demonstration of the effectiveness of infiltration.

During the interwar period, although restricted by the Treaty of Versailles to only 100,000 men in seven infantry divisions, the Reichswehr nevertheless maintained some mountain troops. With those taken over from the Austrian Army after the Anschluss, they formed the cadre for the expansion of Germany’s mountain forces during the late-1930s and in World War II.

Although mountain troops would seem to be over-specialized, in fact, because they are essentially light infantry, they have a considerable degree of operational flexibility.  They are excellent in defense, particularly in rougher terrain when generously supplied with automatic weapons and light anti-tank arms.  They are also easy to move by air, and in 1941 the 5^th Mountain Division was air transported into action during the airborne invasion of Crete.

Mountain divisions were also very useful in counter-insurgency operations, since the partisans were a particular problem in mountains areas such as Yugoslavia and central and northern Italy, and in heavily forested regions, such as much of the western U.S.S.R., which is one reason nearly a fifth of Waffen-SS divisions were mountain units, including several recruited among local peoples in the Balkans.

Because of their excellent defensive capabilities, no mountain divisions were disbanded due to heavy losses in combat, always being rebuilt from the best available manpower.

Major McIlhenny, USMC

From time to time we like to run a “Chet” story.  Chet Lynn (1932-2001) was a marine with a lot of stories about life in the Corps, such as "The Platoon Sergeant and the 'Baby-Faced' Lieutenant", "“The Incredible Moving Hole”, and “Colonel Lynn, General Krulak, and the Tartar Sauce”; funny stories of course.

Like the one about an officer whom he called “Major McIlhenny”.

Now marines are understandably immensely proud of their Corps.  But they usually also have a life separate from the Corps.  Not McIlhenny.

McIlhenny, a former enlisted man, was Corps to the core.  According to Chet, on duty or off, awake or asleep, the Corps was McIlhenny’s entire life.  Apparently, he never seemed to wear anything but his uniform, appropriate to the business of the day, even when he was off duty.  And he had a lot of uniforms, with all the correct accessories.  In fact, he had every item permitted by Marine Corps uniform regulations, including things that were optional wear under particular circumstances or for special occasions, but otherwise never required wear.  If something was officially approved as an optional item of uniform, McIlhenny had it, and wore it whenever the circumstances permitted.  He even had a boat cloak, which gives one some idea of his desire for completeness, as it was – and is -- a pricey item, today costing perhaps $1,250, and rarely found in use even by senior officers, though still described in the uniform regulations:

The boat cloak, made of dark blue broadcloth material lined with scarlet wool broadcloth, is an optional item which may be worn by male officers and SNCO's with evening dress and blue dress "A"/"B" uniforms for official and social functions.  It will not be worn when the blue dress uniform is worn as the uniform of the day.

USMC Officer’s
Boat Cloak

Chet recalled that, on one occasion, their commanding officer invited his officers and their ladies to a cocktail party, specifying civilian dress.

Now McIlhenny had no civilian clothing suitable for the occasion.  So what to do?  Well, like any good officer, when in doubt, he consulted regulations.  McIlhenny found that there was no way he could twist regulations so that he could turn up at the cocktail party wearing his uniform.  But he did find a regulation that permitted the wear certain portions of the uniform with civilian dress – specifically, anything that didn’t have insignia or other overt indications that they were uniform items. 

So, McIlhenny went to the cocktail party wearing a sport jacket hastily purchased at a thrift shop, plus his old enlisted man’s green trousers, a plain uniform shirt, the issue green tie, and his regular shoes.  After meeting his host and hostess, he drank his "mandatory" two cocktails and left. 

According to Chet, on the way back to his home, McIlhenny tossed the sport jacket in a dumpster.